


INDEFINITE HIATUS | The Glitch Effect

by strainedpatience



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: "Is this a Sword Art Online AU?", Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Honestly where is the lie, M/M, NOT just a relationship with plot fluff, RPG world, This is an anxiety free zone guys I'm gonna watch out for y'all, This is major plot with Klance tossed in, Voltron au, expect an actual story here, it's not but there is some resemblance yeah, its going to get kind of dark in some chapters but I'll be sure to put warnings in front of each one, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 04:52:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11120286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strainedpatience/pseuds/strainedpatience
Summary: Lance swore as his bayard purred to life in his hand.  Just sixty more ticks.  If he could distract the soldiers for sixty ticks it would be enough time for his team to find their way inside.  Taking two Galra out by a surprise attack was one thing, but six against one with nowhere left to hide didn’t leave Lance with the best of odds.The paladin braced himself, his bayard gun held up to the eye with a shot that would hopefully stun the group, buying him more time.  He only needed to stay alive for sixty more ticks.-An RPG world AU where Keith starts out as a Loner rather than a paladin.  Brace for level grinding, Galra beating, and some unique action with RPG aspects.  More info on the premise/lingo found in Chapter 1.  Hope you enjoy!





	INDEFINITE HIATUS | The Glitch Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Lingo/Terminology you will hear throughout this Au:
> 
> Alpha = Leader of the team (Not to be confused with Omegaverse)  
> Second = 2nd in charge of the team  
> Head = members that are alive/active  
> Body = members that are alive, but unconscious for the time being  
> Deadend = that member is ded, yo  
> Loner = A citizen with unusually high stats (HP/Damage/Defense/Speed/etc) who works on their own rather than with a Team  
> Team = An alliance formed between citizens in order to achieve higher stats  
> Rogue Team = An alliance formed between citizens with the intent to harm other citizens through stealing/harming/killing  
> Paladin = A Team member (Not exclusive to only Voltron)  
> Soldier = A ROGUE Team member
> 
> If something isn't mentioned here that you need explanation for feel free to leave a comment telling me so I can add it!
> 
> (Commenting in general would be appreciated, I love feedback <3)

Premise:

The world, not unlike many RPGs, is filled with dangerous creatures of varying levels of strength and intelligence, and Rogues who lust for power and control. They say at the end of Level 100 lies a Utopia fit for a god with an immeasurable amount of power which is to be given to whomever first discovers it. Levels, however, much like ascending to various realms in a game, increase in difficulty with each rising number. Life in Altea remains relatively peaceful for the citizens who choose to live domestically in the lower Levels, but those who choose a more adventurous path to follow will form Teams.

Team Voltron has remained the highest leveled for years, though their ascending path towards Level 100 began just recently. Team Galra, however, carries the same goal in mind. A Rogue team with no mercy and no pity, the Galrans pride themselves in stealing loot from even the most inexperienced and lowest level players. They take what they want and fly through Levels with the intent to reach Utopia before Voltron has a chance to catch up.

With so many Bases laid claim to by the Galra hope is quickly dwindling among the citizens. A base is only claimed for as long as the Team survives it, however, and Voltron doesn’t plan to let their opponents keep many of their trophies; even if it means life or death.

* * *

“Alpha Black, come in Alpha Black. This is Second Blue requesting back up.” Lance hugged the wall and spoke in mumbles just loud enough for the transmitter to pick up on. The crackle from the other end was his only answer for long enough that Lance had opened his mouth to repeat the words, but was cut off by a reply through the static.

“This is Alpha Black, state your location.” 

He shifted to look around the corner and counted five--no, six Galran soldiers. He found his way against the wall again and murmured against the transmitter, “I have just entered Sector Four’s base. There are six Heads, two Bodies by the entrance but I don’t know how long they’ll stay that way, I knocked them out in a rush. I believe the portal to be too heavily guarded for a sneak attack. Do you copy?”

Silence, nothing but more static. He peaked around the corner for another look and found his breath caught halfway in his throat when a Galran soldier was mere feet away from him; his back faced away from the paladin, but that didn’t bring Lance any more relief than it had taken away in the first place. 

“I copy. We are in pursuit and will arrive in approximately eighty ticks.” Lance couldn’t shove his hand over the transmitter to muffle it fast enough; the Galran turned at the noise and blue eyes met yellow.

The paladin ducked into a roll away from the wall just before a laser hit, the place he had been sitting just ticks before now black as charcoal. He lunged for the gun and managed to pry it from the Galran’s hands before another shot was taken. It flew across the room, which alerted the remaining five soldiers to the intruder; just his luck.

Lance swore as his bayard purred to life in his hand. Just sixty more ticks. If he could distract the soldiers for sixty ticks it would be enough time for his team to find their way inside. Taking two Galra out by a surprise attack was one thing, but six against one with nowhere left to hide didn’t leave Lance with the best of odds. 

The paladin braced himself, his bayard gun held up to the eye with a shot that would hopefully stun the group, buying him more time. He only needed to stay alive for sixty more ticks.

The stun shot did little but buy him a few extra ticks, not enough to make an escape. While five of the soldiers remained caught up in the flash one shoved their way forward, taking on Lance with all of his weight. Lance felt the air leave his lungs as he was knocked to the floor with an impact so heavy it cracked the back of his helmet; he thanked the lord that it wasn’t his skull.

“Sorry, I’m not into that.” Lance smirked despite the throb in his head as his gun whirred to life. He had aimed it against the soldier’s stomach before the collision, a surefire hit that would no doubt result in a Deadend for the Galra, but the soldier dodged to the side before impact. The gun fired against the wall instead. Lance would have cursed, but he decided to count his blessings; at least the soldier was off of him now.

He rolled to his feet and aimed once more. The hit managed to scrape against the side of the Galra’s shoulder, his enemy too quick for a proper shot. This time Lance cursed.

“What’s going on over there?” His transmitter crackled to life once more just in time to catch Lance off guard. He narrowly dodged a hit from the soldier behind him and made a risky slide between the Galra’s legs in order to shoot him dead in the center of his back. “Second Blue, come in! What is your status!” He could hear Shiro’s worry increase with every passing tick. Their team’s Alpha was impatient at times but this was different. This was the voice of a leader who knew his teammate was in trouble.

“My location was discovered.” Lance managed to bark into the transmitter. “My position has been compromised and I am in dire need of backup--” a scream erupted from his throat and effectively cut him off before the transmission had finished. He was thrown unceremoniously across the room, his bayard lost in the process. It skid across the floor on the opposite side, now blocked by two Galra soldiers who stood between it and Lance. 

His limbs trembled with the effort it took to get to his elbows and knees, then to his feet. He swayed, his fists in the air; it was all the defense he had left until his team arrived. Just forty-five more ticks.

A soldier raised his gun and Lance was prepared for it, he was sure of it, but he wasn’t prepared for the Galra that appeared from behind. He felt the world spin as his head slammed against the floor for a second time. One pair of hands held him down at the shoulders, the Galra from the front, his gun still raised, now aimed it against Lance’s forehead.

The paladin felt a bile rise in his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut, his fists clenched. This was it. Thirty ticks were all he needed and still, it was too long. It was too much to hope that his team would be able to cut that time in half. Too much to ask that he be given a second chance. 

Maybe if he had done things differently. If he had found a better hiding place. If he had taken out these two soldiers first. He managed to knock out three of them, a good half of the team, but it wasn’t enough. His efforts were never enough, and now he was going to pay the price for it.

The sound of a Galra weapon’s firing shot whirred through the air and Lance braced for impact, but the hit never came. He dared to open his eyes only a crack, and then all at once they were wide, his mouth slightly agape.

The first soldier was deadend just feet away from the other two. The Galra holding a gun to lance’s head shot down mere ticks after, but not before shooting a bullet at whoever had disturbed their attack on the blue paladin.

“Shiro, watch out!” Lance heard the words leave his mouth before he even computed saying them. In his mind it had to be Shiro; no one else could have made a shot like that or snuck up on the soldiers so easily, like it was child’s play.

The second Galra fell, his body slumped lifelessly across the floor at Lance’s feet, clearing the paladin’s view for what he had been blocking before now. Lance found himself gaping again as words failed him.

“We are in combat with the two former Bodies in front of the base.” Shiro’s words echoed into the transmitter, “We are in pursuit. Estimated time of arrival is in twenty-five ticks. Do you copy?” His tongue was dry, words were nonexistent to him. Shiro couldn’t be two places at once.

The stranger wore a hood red as blood and a black mask that covered the lower portion of his face, shielding every feature but a pair of piercing violet eyes. The Loner’s gun whirred to life a third time. It made perfect contact with the space between the last Galra’s eyes and he, too, fell to the cold floor of the base.

“That--That’s a Galra gun.” Lance would kick himself in the future for choosing such dumbfounded words to be his first upon seeing the loner but, as it would happen, not much was working right in his brain; not after the two nasty collisions with the floor. He shakily got to his feet once he was freed from the soldier’s grip and tried to make sense of it all, but all that his mind could come up with was nouns, stating the obvious. The boy who saved him from near death was here, in front of him, just feet away. He wore red; the brightest red Lance had ever seen in his life. He was tall. He was a Loner. He was using a Galra’s gun. A Galra gun. It was practically unheard of, especially of Loners.

The stranger made no move to reply. Lance stepped forward, determined to get answers. He could hear his team in the other room now, only a door separating them. “You saved my life.” It was all he could think to say that wouldn’t just make him look even dumber than he looked already. The red stranger looked towards the door and Lance’s gaze foolishly followed. He stepped towards it on legs that threatened to give out beneath him, his face the epitome of relief when his team rushed in with Shiro at the lead.

Hunk was beside Lance in minutes and holding the paladin up as he slumped in his teammate’s arms, his body giving out on him, exhaustion taking its course. The battle was over and, for now at the very least, they were safe and could step back to take a breath. 

“What happened, man? Did you do this yourself? Major props.” Lance turned with his best effort to face the mess of bodies on the floor that Hunk referred to.

“N-No, I--” He stopped, his words caught in his throat. The red stranger was gone as though he had never been there, to begin with. Had he hallucinated him from the blood loss? Was it his mind’s attempt at giving him a last taste of hope before death? “No it--it wasn’t me. You know I would love to take the credit for this but I swear, guys, half of this wasn’t my doing.”

Shiro looked up from where he had been assessing the damage. Hunk and Pidge, the latter of whom had entered just ticks before now, exchanged glances. “Are you sure?” Pidge questioned in a critical tone, “The back of your helmet is cracked, Lance. Maybe you just hit your head a little too hard.”

“I know what I saw.” Lance snapped. His fingers pressed against thin lips just moments after as he tried to stop the string of coughs from getting any worse. His team looked at him with pity; they didn’t believe him. “I s-swear, you guys, I wouldn’t lie to you about something like thi--” another bout of coughing interrupted him and Lance felt Shiro’s hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you tell us all about once we find a base at Level Five. You took some pretty hard hits, Lance. You need to find a Safe Zone so you can heal.” The other two nodded in agreement. Hunk helped swing one of Lance’s arms over his shoulders and Shiro started for the portal room with Pidge close at his side, the two braced for combat in case there were more Galra on the way to the portal.

Lance found his arguments muted. Any fight he would have made wouldn’t have made sense, anyways. He scoffed with a lighthearted smile that he kept to himself, “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he admitted because things just weren’t adding up, “There’s no way a Loner would be at that high of a level, much less with a gun like that. I’ll feel better once we hit up a Safe Zone, I guess.”

Shiro looked over his shoulder with a reassuring smile before leading the team forward. Just behind them, pressed behind the ceiling air shafts, violet eyes watched on.


End file.
